The Stranger
by JantoJanto
Summary: When a stranger appears in the middle of the Hub, Jack immediately recognises him and welcomes him into the team, leaving everyone feeling confused and invaded. How will this affect the team dynamic? Chapter 8 added.
1. Unwelcomed

It was nearing 8pm when Ianto was making what he hoped was the last round of coffee for the day. For most of the team, anyway. He knew that Jack always stayed until a lot later. Jack never admitted to Ianto that he lived at the Hub, but Ianto knew he did, although he never wanted to bring it up. It was kind of weird, and he didn't like to see Jack as weird. So he just left it alone - it was probably best that way.

He thought about replacing the filter on the coffee machine. Not because he thought he needed to, but because he was so very bored. He was praying that the team would be going home soon, leaving him and Jack alone. Jack had only just got back that week, and Ianto knew that Jack still owed him a date. Ianto was getting impatient. Why hadn't the team gone yet? Surely they hadn't got that much work to do, it had been a very, very quiet day. So quiet, in fact, that Ianto didn't see any particular reason why they should have been in work in the first place. It was very rarely that they got a quiet day, and it seemed rather strange to everyone, yet very relieving.

Ianto picked up the tray and left his little 'pantry', as Owen liked to tease. He had got past the stage where his job felt degrading, and had decided, after quite a long time working at Torchwood, that his job was quite important. The team would fall apart without his coffee. He walked down to the autopsy area where Owen was sitting and fidgeting aimlessly, and placed Owen's mug of freshly brewed coffee onto the autopsy table next to Owen. He took the coffee and thanked Ianto before taking a sip and letting out a sigh. Ianto was suddenly entertained at the idea of Owen working at the coffee machine.

"What?"

Ianto jumped slightly at Owen's outburst and looked at him, slightly confused. "What?" He replied.

"You laughed. Was it me? Did I do something funny?" Asked Owen, looking slightly insulted. Maybe it was just acting, though. Ianto hadn't realised he'd laughed out loud.

"Oh, it's nothing. A passing thought, don't let it distract you from…" Ianto thought for a moment. Nothing sprung to mind, and he didn't finish his sentence. He walked out of the area and over to Toshiko's desk.

"Thank you, Ianto." She said in appreciation. Ianto was about to leave for Gwen's desk when Tosh stopped him. "Ianto, do you have a moment?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I've been wondering, I mean, I don't know if you'll have any idea, you're probably as confused as I am, but…" Tosh looked slightly more worried than usual. "Why do you think Jack's keeping us in?"

"What do you mean?" Ianto knew exactly what she meant. He just needed to make sure she was talking about the same thing.

"Well, nothing's happened today. He usually lets us go home early if nothing happens. Or is that just me?"

"No, you're right Tosh, he does. Usually." He looked up to Jack's office. Jack hadn't been acting out of the usual. "Maybe it just didn't occur to him."

"Well, it's just Jack, I suppose." Tosh said. She was completely right. He was strange, in so many different ways. You just couldn't assume anything of Jack, because you're usually wrong. "Well, thanks anyway, Ianto, I…"

Tosh was suddenly cut off by a very loud bang that echoed throughout the Hub. At first, neither Ianto or Tosh knew where it had come from, until they saw smoke rising from the back of Tosh's computer screen, then a few seconds later the images on the 4 joined screens disappeared, leaving the screen blank and fizzing with static.

"What happened?" Ianto asked her. She replied that she had no idea.

"What were you running?" He asked.

"Just an update program. I was updating the rift monitor software, while I had some free time."

Ianto thought for a second. "I don't know nearly as much about computers as you do, but when you update something don't you have to disable the program?"

"Yes, temporarily." She looked at him as if it didn't mean anything.

"Well, doesn't the rift monitor control the rift manipulator?"

"Yes." She looked at him again, with an inquisitive expression. Then suddenly her expression changed to one of fear and shock.

"So…" Ianto began again. "You turned the manipulator off?"

They looked at each other in shock for a moment, realising what deep trouble Tosh would be in with Jack if she'd caused a serious problem. That moment's silence was ended by a ragged and shallow coughing coming from right behind them both.

They quickly turned around, not realising that anyone had been there, to see a young man, blonde, probably in his late 20's, lying sprawled across the Hub floor in front of them, coughing his lungs out with an expression of pure agony on his face.

Tosh and Ianto just stood there with a mixture of confusion and fear haunting them. It suddenly occurred to Ianto that he should go get Jack before they did anything else. He usually knew what to do.

As he stepped over the man on his way to Jack's office, the man stopped coughing suddenly and grabbed Ianto's leg. Ianto started and looked down at the man, knowing he had fear in his eyes.

"Where the fuck am I?"


	2. Tears

"Pablo?" Jack called down from the door of his office, staring down at the man, now stood up and leaning against Ianto's shoulder, breathless. The stranger just stared back up at Jack. They both had equally shocked expressions on their faces as they stared, but at the same time they seemed to recognise each other just as equally.

After what felt like about 10 minutes of staring in disbelief, Jack began to descend the staircase towards 'Pablo'. "Jack, it's…" Pablo began, trying desperately to take in everything that was happening. "…you?"

Owen and Gwen walked in the room to join the confusion. Ianto turned his head back to Pablo, who had released Ianto from the grip on his shoulder and was walking slowly towards Jack, who was doing the same. Eventually, after painful silence, they were stood face to face, and Ianto was scared and slightly hurt to see a tear running down Jack's face. He wasn't sure whether it was pain or joy that was making Jack cry, but what Ianto did know was that he hated it. He had never seen Jack cry in his life, and it hurt him even more to know that this was a situation in which Ianto couldn't help. So he stood and watched.

The awkward silence was agonising. Ianto, Owen, Gwen and Tosh had grouped together, maybe in fright, maybe for comfort, but they stood watching. Watching intently as Jack and 'Pablo' just stared at each other, apparently so familiar with each other. And then they kissed.

Ianto was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to run over and slap this 'Pablo' around the face and show him where he stood. But he knew that, seeing as Jack knew this man so well, it wouldn't put Ianto on excellent terms with Jack. So he stood on the verge of tears, watching Jack kiss this man passionately, like they had been lovers for years. Ianto wouldn't be surprised. He was almost certain that the others were as surprised as he was about this sudden friendliness between the Jack and his newfound saviour, but he wouldn't draw his attention away to look at them. He just watched Jack, pleading in his mind for Jack to stop. It was killing him. Didn't Jack care?

Finally, it stopped. Jack had his hand resting gently on Pablo's cheek, and on top of it Pablo was resting his, while with their other hands they held. They were just staring into each other's eyes.

"Could you please leave?" Jack said suddenly to the rest of the team. His voice was strong with emotion as he held back tears. The tears were streaming down his face now, as he was clearly moved by his encounter.

The team swiftly left. Well, Owen, Gwen and Tosh left swiftly. Ianto took his time, falling back and hoping that Jack would see him. Hoping that Jack would realise what he was doing to Ianto. Hoping Jack would care. But he didn't. He just noticed Ianto in the corner of his eye, never taking an eye off Pablo, and raised his voice, almost shouting.

"Ianto! Go, now!" Jack was almost sobbing now.

Ianto did as he was told. He walked out of the room and into the conference room where the others had gone. He didn't want to be in the same room as them. He didn't want to be able to release his emotions to anyone. But at the same time, he knew he needed company, or this would all become too much for him.

He sat. He blocked out his thoughts for as long as he could. He blocked out the fact that Jack had shouted at him. He blocked out the fact that Jack never said anything to him about his past, or else Ianto might have expected this to happen. Maybe it wouldn't have affected him so much. He blocked out the fact that the rest of his teammates were watching tears well up in his eyes. He blocked them all out for as long as he could, which ended up being a grand total of 25 seconds.

And then, Gwen cradling him in her arms in the seat next to him, he burst into tears.


	3. Pessimism

Ianto woke up the next morning with the most dreadful headache. He climbed out of bed and walked into the en-suite. He looked into the mirror and had to admit he looked just as dreadful as he felt. He couldn't even remember what he'd done to get himself in such a mess. Everything from the day before was a blur. He must have been drinking. Heavily.

Over the course of the short morning before he got into his car to get to work, things began to come back to him. As he slipped his suit trousers on, he remembered the arrival of Pablo. That man had jumped straight into his life and Ianto couldn't help but feel that Pablo was trying to hurt him. It was a ridiculous thought. Pablo didn't even know Ianto. He had hardly spoken to him. As Ianto did up his tie he remembered the conversation he had had with Pablo. How Pablo had briefly told him how he knew Jack. _"We used to travel together. A long time ago."_ That was all he said. Didn't explain much, but Ianto had to settle for it. He was pretty sure that Pablo still had no clue that Ianto and Jack were supposed to be making plans for a date. So really, it wasn't Pablo's fault that Ianto's heart was being torn in two. He didn't know. But that didn't stop Ianto from hating his guts.

Once Ianto was dressed and walking out to his car, he remembered being in a bar last night, for a long time, and that didn't really do wonders for his conscience much. He remembered getting completely hammered, alone, drowning his sorrows and his sudden loss in large volumes of alcohol, not caring what kind of alcohol it was, just getting it down him like there was no tomorrow. Funny thing is, if there really was no tomorrow, getting drunk would be the last thing on Ianto's mind. If it was the last day he had to live, he would walk into Jack's office, boldly, hit Pablo hard, embrace Jack, kiss him, then leave, and run. Run so he would never have to see Jack or Torchwood ever again. Run so he wouldn't have to ever face the consequences of his actions.

He got into work late. He didn't realise he was running late until he looked at his watch as he walked into the Hub. He gasped in shock - he was never late. It was impossible. No, it was shameful. Him? Late? Never.

Owen stood in front of him, arms crossed, looking at him in a way that said 'The tables have turned, my friend'. Ianto just looked at him, waiting for him to come out with something that he would later regret.

"Oh, Ianto Jones." He said, shaking his head theatrically. "What a disappointment. Bow your head in shame, for I have arrived into work before ye." He paused and decided not to continue with his taunts, as he looked up and saw Ianto's expression. That was one look that said you should back off. Then Owen merely gestured for Ianto to walk straight past him and he did exactly that.

He made his way down to the coffee machine and noticed that it had already been used. He did not lose his temper. Normally he would have lost it at the sight of it. But unless it had been Pablo that had used it, he didn't care this morning. He began on the coffees as if nothing was different today.

In the silence he heard a sudden outburst of happy laughter coming from the upper reaches of the Hub, and he heard a two sets of feet descending the stairway that lead up to Jack's office. He listened in and heard Jack, happy. He felt a sudden pang of anger at the thought that Jack could be so happy without Ianto in his arms. He tried to blank it all out as he began to hear Pablo's voice as well. He had hardly had a proper look at Pablo since his appearance, and as he finished off the coffees and placed them all on a tray, he decided that it was a good idea to have a clear image of the man he was competing against. Ianto wasn't usually the competitive type, but this meant too much to him not to be a competition. He wasn't going to let go of Jack that easily.

He walked out of the coffee room and into the main area, handing out various coffees to various people until he got within sight of Pablo and Jack. They had been chatting happily to one another about things that Ianto had not been concentrating on, but as soon as he stepped near them with Jack's coffee, they both went completely silent. Ianto locked eyes with Jack, and Ianto saw nothing. Usually he saw a happy glint in his eyes - a friendly shine that made Ianto feel like he was at home. But he felt nothing.

Then he locked eyes with Pablo. He felt all sorts of things, mainly rage. But as he looked into Pablo's intense, green eyes and looked at his dyed blonde hair and took in the details of his handsome face and slim body, he began to feel completely different. The rage was overtaken by a sense of security. He placed down Jack's coffee, never losing eye contact with Pablo. Then he turned and left.

They had said nothing. It must have been at least a minute that they spent just looking at each other and studying each other's expressions, and during that 60 seconds Ianto had decided that Pablo's expression was friendly. Maybe he had been overreacting about everything. Maybe Jack still hadn't told Pablo about him and Ianto. Pablo probably didn't mean anything by it. It obviously wasn't his fault he arrived here, it was the rift doing what it normally does and dropping random things off at random times. But maybe it hadn't just dropped through junk like it normally did. Maybe this time it had given them something special, something to be proud of.

_Ianto_, he said to himself, _don't be so pessimistic._


	4. Plans

Pablo was sat, unfortunately, opposite Ianto on the boardroom table. Jack sat at the head of the table, next to those two, and the other three sat at the other end, not wanting to get involved in the conflict. The first meeting was taking place since Pablo arrived. Since that moment, hardly anyone had spoken to anyone unless it was work-related. Tosh had sorted out the rift manipulator problem quietly with Owen and Gwen had got on with her usual business, occasionally asking Ianto random things, in an attempt to start conversation with him. She could tell he was lonely and she didn't like it. Typical Gwen, always too empathetic. Ianto just wanted to be left alone to look at things by himself.

But now, finally, Pablo got an introduction. Everyone was nervous - they didn't like this situation, it was awful and awkward for all of them, but at the same time they all wanted to know just that little bit more about Jack's past, so none of them complained about coming along.

"So, everyone…" Jack began. He was stuttering. He never stuttered. This was obviously just as nerve-racking for him as it was for the rest of them. "I thought you'd all like to know what's been going on."

He stood up and walked over to where Pablo was sitting and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone, let me introduce you to Pablo. Pablo, this is Ianto Jones, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato and Gwen Cooper," He said, gesturing to each of them individually. They all looked over at Pablo. He had his head lowered, almost in shame for invading their workplace, and looked up at them all with those beautiful green eyes of his. Ianto couldn't get them out of his head. Pablo was fidgeting nervously with the sleeves of his shirt. He was wearing what Ianto recognised as one of Jack's shirts. He had arrived in a t-shirt that had said, in bold letters, the words: 'Yes. I'm Hot. What ya gonna do about it?', along with a pair of tight grey jeans. Ianto had soon decided after 2 days of him wearing them, that Ianto should at least be decent and offer to take them for a clean. So he had, and Jack had given him another pair of jeans and one of his plain shirts to replace them. Ianto couldn't help but notice that Jack's shirt was slightly baggy over Pablo's chest, which Ianto had sneaked a peek at while Pablo was getting out of the showers just yesterday, and he had to admit that he was rather envious of his toned abdomen.

Ianto shook his head slightly to get this thought out of his head, paying attention to Pablo's quiet greeting. He raised one hand feebly and gave a little wave to them all, and they all said hello back. Pablo was obviously anxious, and must have felt a little guilty. Perhaps he did know about Ianto and Jack. Perhaps he just wanted to stay out of the way of all that. Within seconds of realising this, Ianto had forgiven Pablo, and was now angry at Jack for not speaking to him for days.

"Pablo is… an old friend of mine. We go back a long way. And his arriving here, well…" He looked down, thinking of something to say. "It was all a coincidence. I would be angry with Tosh, but I just can't be. I'm happy that he's here."

Ianto noticed Gwen giving Pablo a friendly smile that said 'Welcome to the team', as if Jack's introduction was enough of an excuse to let him in, no arguments. Nobody protested.

"Anyway, I just thought I'd tell you all. I mean, you can go home now if you like. No worries. I mean, you can stay too, if you want…" This was enough of a suggestion. Everyone knew this meant Jack wouldn't mind some company.

"Alright then, I'll be off," Owen said. Ianto rolled his eyes, it was typical of Owen not to care, and if he did care, it was typical of him not to show it. Ianto wasn't entirely sure which one it was in this case.

Owen left the room and Tosh followed close by his tail. Leaving Jack, Pablo, Ianto and Gwen. Jack sat back down at the head of the table and there were looks exchanging between the three men that told Gwen it wouldn't be a good idea for her to stay any longer. It felt as if bombs were about to go off. So she swiftly left, mumbling something about wanting to see Rhys.

The three of them sat there, waiting in silence until they heard the other three leaving through the cog-door. Then Ianto spoke.

"So, are we going to spill some beans, then?" He said aggressively to Jack. Jack looked startled at first at Ianto's sudden questioning, and then opened his mouth.

"Yes, I suppose. I mean… what do you want to know?"

"Details."

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but had no idea what he should say. He looked back and forth between Ianto and Pablo, and a sudden change in his expression let Ianto know that he had suddenly realised what Ianto's problem was. He knew now. He knew why Ianto was so pissed off.

"Pablo Piekos." Pablo said in an American accent that wasn't nearly as strong as Jack's. His voice was slightly higher in pitch too. He obviously didn't like the silence. Ianto decided that they weren't going to get anywhere unless he asked some questions.

"Well, where did you two meet?"

"A long way away," Pablo said. Ianto hadn't expected him to answer that question. "You wouldn't know it."

"How do you know I wouldn't know it?" Ianto said. "I might. Try me."

Jack had never seen Ianto this forward, and it occurred to him that maybe all this secretiveness had gone too far. Ianto had had enough. Jack gave Pablo a look that said, bluntly: 'Don't tell him. Don't. It would be a bad idea.'

Pablo ignored Jack and said, "Tekna. Familiar with it? It's a solar system just outside this one. I was trapped underneath a piece of rubble after my house exploded. He rescued me. My knight in shining armour." Jack rolled his eyes and was tempted to slap his forehead in annoyance. But he stayed calm.

"Right. You're right, I'm not familiar with it. Doesn't surprise me, though." He looked up at Jack like a father would to his 7-year-old child that had done something naughty. He looked back at Pablo. "Thanks for telling me though. Even though I have no clue what you're on about, it's still better than what he tells me." Ianto put emphasis on the 'he' to turn it into an accusation.

He wasn't lying. He seriously was happy that Pablo had told him, and it immediately took Pablo off of his enemies' list and into his good books. It wasn't Pablo he should be annoyed at, not in the slightest. At least now he had verbal evidence that Jack had been somewhere other than Earth. Ianto had always suspected it, but Jack had never told him straight.

"I'm sorry." Someone said. Ianto had expected it to be Jack that had said it. Jack was the one who was supposed to be saying sorry at that point. But it was Pablo.

"You've got nothing to say sorry for." Ianto said.

"Yes I have. I've just marched in here and taken your man." He said with a slight laugh.

Ianto paused. "Well, you're forgiven. Because for a start, it wasn't your fault, it was Tosh's, and secondly, he wasn't my man. We hadn't even gone out on a date yet. We hadn't even made the plans he promised he would make with me." Ianto said, never taking an eye off of Pablo's. His own words were causing rage to bubble up inside him, and he was afraid that if he looked at Jack it would all explode out of him.

"Oh. Well, Jack failed to tell me that."

"Tell you what?"

"That you had a date to arrange."

Ianto just nodded his head. "Well then," Pablo continued. "I'm going to make those plans for you. When are you both available?"

Ianto and Jack both looked at him in astonishment. "What?" Pablo asked. "You were meant to be having a date, so I'm making a date for you. It's only fair."

Jack just looked down at his feet and Ianto shook his head slightly. He wasn't sure if he even wanted this date anymore. It wouldn't feel right. Not as right as it would have if Pablo hadn't arrived, and broken his heart by accident.

"No," Ianto said. "I don't want to. Not anymore." He was making his point clear to Jack, without even looking at him.

"Jack?" Pablo asked, looking up at Jack. He shook his head in agreement with Ianto. He obviously thought it would be weird too.

"Well then. Ok, let's make a deal. You two go on a date, and I'll come along, make it less awkward. I'm a real deal, me." He said. Ianto thought about it for a second. Pablo obviously wasn't going to let this go, so he thought he may as well go along with it. He nodded his head, putting a great big grin of pride on Pablo's face. "Great! So it's settled," He said, without even looking to Jack for his permission. He knew Jack would be negative to the whole idea, and Ianto did too. Pablo obviously knew Jack just as well as Ianto did.

"So… tomorrow night? 7pm?" Pablo suggested.

"Can we make it 8?" Ianto asked. He had things to do tomorrow that would probably take a bit of time.

"Sure. Right. It's a deal. Tomorrow, 8pm sharp. All of us meet up at that tourist entrance thing. Yeah? Jack, you can drive us."

"Whoa, whoa, hang on a second. So basically, it's me, you and Ianto going on a date?"

"Yep. Problem?"

Jack paused for a moment. "Well, not really a problem, it's just…"

"Are you saying we're not attractive enough?" He said, winking over at Ianto. Ianto smiled.

"No, no, you're both hot, it's just…" Jack admitted, "It's not really a date, then, is it? I mean, there's no cuddling or holding hands or going home together, is there?"

"Is that how you categorise a date, Jack?" Ianto said.

"Well, it's usually what a date contains. For me." He said back.

"Well, fine then. If you want cuddling and holding hands, then fine, we can all do that. And even going home together, if it's what we all want." He said with a grin. Jack didn't protest. He knew he was getting nowhere. So they all agreed to meet, at 8, at the agreed place, and then they all departed off to their separate sleeping places.

Jack went down to his cubby-hole in the corner of his office and usually Pablo would join him, but Pablo had argued that, since they had not yet gone on that date they technically shouldn't be sleeping together, even if there was no sex. Jack had insisted to Ianto that over the past few days there had been no sex. So as Jack went, grumbling, to his bed and Pablo settled himself on the couch, Ianto left on a high note, quite looking forward to the next day.


	5. Romantic

6:30pm. Ianto watched the others as they went about their business, pressing this and moving that, doing whatever it was they needed to do. Ianto couldn't tell by their random actions what they were actually trying to do. Owen was typing up various things on his computer, apparently on a search engine. Not entirely sure whether or not what he was doing was work-related. Normally Ianto would go over there to make sure he wasn't just doing what he liked for the day, but even if he was Ianto didn't care today. He was still, after about 2 hours, trying to decide what to wear later on.

Although a three way date was quite a peculiar idea, Ianto had to admit he was looking forward to it rather a lot. He didn't care that Tosh, Gwen and Owen knew about these strange plans. He didn't care that they all thought he had gone completely nuts. He just didn't want anything to get in the way of it.

Jack was laughing with Gwen, something about metaphors in the bedroom. Tosh was working quietly at her desk, surprisingly not at her computer. Instead, she was building something. Experimentally, of course. If it was something she already knew all about then she wouldn't be doing it. In her spare time at work she would always try and find out new things about anything she could. If she did that in her education days, no wonder she was so smart.

Ianto couldn't see Pablo anywhere as he headed down to the archives. He had nothing to do down there, he was just desperate for some alone time away from the noise and chaos of the echoing Hub, to think on his own for a while. He was always glad to have this little space that he called his own, and nobody had a problem with him being secluded down there so often. 

It bugged Ianto that he couldn't catch a glimpse of Pablo on the way down. He was hoping to ask him where they would be going that night. He didn't want to turn up in a pub wearing a suit, or turn up in a restaurant wearing jeans. He was hoping it would be the latter, but he told himself repeatedly that this was not because he thought it would be romantic, but because he liked wearing suits. Yes, that was it. It was all about he suits.

He sniggered to himself as he went down, realising that that wasn't the only reason he had wanted to see Pablo. He didn't mind admitting to himself that, since that talk yesterday in the boardroom, he had found Pablo very attractive in his personality. Funny and clever. Rather like Jack, but with less vanity and big-headedness. And he was decent too; he made the point earlier on that day to mention to the team how they took Ianto for granted. Ianto had just smiled back at him in a way that said thanks, and had gone back to whatever he had been doing at the time. As he walked away, he could sense Pablo watching him as he went. Not to mention Pablo was physically gorgeous. Ianto even went to the extent of saying that he was probably more good-looking than Jack was, and for a while he had never thought that was possible. But after meeting Pablo, it so was.

Right on cue, he bumped into Pablo on the stairway to the archives. Pablo was obviously leaving. He suddenly felt very protective towards his private space that everyone else called the archives. Nobody else went down there. What reason would Pablo have for going down there?

"Hey Ianto!" He said cheerfully, with a delightful set of teeth grinning at him. His expression changed to confusion when he saw Ianto's unreadable look. "What's up?"

"Oh, oh it's nothing. Don't mind me," He said, making to walk past Pablo. But Pablo put a hand on his shoulder and raised his eyebrows at Ianto rather patronisingly, but at the same time Ianto felt quite safe with Pablo's hand on his shoulder. "Well, it's just… nobody goes in the archives."

"Ah, I see." Pablo said.

"You do?"

"Yeah. It's your little place."

"Right." Ianto said, quite disappointed that Jack had started telling Pablo about him. "Jack told you."

"No! No, he's not told me anything about you. I said not to, it would kind of spoil the mood at the date tonight. I'd like to hear all about you," He said in a way that sent shivers down Ianto's spine at the thought of their date. "I worked it out. A look in your eyes, says 'stay away, that's my territory'. Don't worry about it. You won't see me near there again."

Ianto nodded slightly. "Why were you down there?"

"Just having a look around, actually. This place is nice. Old, and obviously used, but nice." Somehow Ianto couldn't see where he was coming from. He hated it here. It was vast and always cold. Torchwood has enough money to by pterodactyl food and an energy supply that could run the whole of Cardiff, but not enough for a bit of heating.

"Anyway, I'll see you then." Ianto said, and Pablo responded with a little salute that Ianto figured must be his way of saying goodbye. "…Wait." He continued, eager to ask. Pablo snapped to attention.

"What will the atmosphere be like? Where we're going."

Pablo looked at the ceiling for a second, pondering. Then he looked back into Ianto's blue eyes, clashing with his green ones, and said: "…Romantic."

Then he turned around, and left.


	6. The Date

What to wear. What to wear. Ianto had been asking himself that question for a long time now. Must have been hours. But, as he got out of the shower and quickly towel-dried his hair, he still had not come to a final decision.

Eventually he concluded on a certain suit of his. He didn't want to stand out in the crowd too much. In fact, he'd rather fade into the background of the restaurant while Pablo and Jack got on with whatever it was they were planning on doing on this date. So he would wear something subtle. Then again, he realised that Pablo had planned this date as a way to force Jack and Ianto to go on a date together, so there was no way Pablo was going to let Ianto off with saying nothing the whole time. Unless it had been Pablo's way of turning this whole thing into an excuse for a bit of fun and games.

He slipped on a vest, but he then decided against it, hoping for the possibility that it might get just a bit too hot in there for a vest. So he took it off again and buttoned up a purple shirt and put on a black tie, before adding a dark grey waistcoat and his usual black jacket and slipping on a pair of plain black trousers. It was all very simple but very effective, and he loved what it had done to his figure. Oh, he thought, listen to me. I sound like a girl.

After spending another 30 minutes of sprucing up, gelling his hair, straightening his tie and constantly checking himself in the mirror, the doorbell took him by surprise. He was sure they had said to all meet at work at 8 - it was only half 7 and he had someone knocking on his door. He went over to answer it and there stood a man he hardly knew, and at first didn't recognise. But after a few seconds he realised it was Pablo. And he looked absolutely stunning.

He was wearing a pair of textured, white toe-point shoes which were unpolished, giving them a lovely dull texture. He wore a pair of black trousers pinstriped with white. Then, as Ianto moved his eyes up Pablo's body, he concentrated on the details of his torso. A crisp, white shirt, a black tie and a pale pink cravat, all underneath the most beautiful white swallow-tail coat. As Ianto's gaze reached Pablo's eyes, the whole outfit was topped off by his own gaze of piercing green eyes, and Ianto actually let out a sigh of amazement. Pablo picked up on this and smiled, and Ianto swore he was going to pass out at that gorgeous set of teeth.

He had never seen anything so beautiful in his life. He was almost overwhelmed with the urge to pull Pablo into his flat and take all those clothes off him, and kiss him and do amazing things with him all night, completely forgetting about the date. To pin him down, naked on the bed, and fuck him until they both passed out with something, whether it was pleasure, heat or exhaustion. Ianto was just about to give in to his primal instinct when Pablo spoke and gave him something to distract him.

"I thought I'd come and pick you up. I was ready ages ago, and I knew you'd be ready too, so I just… came." He said. The way he put emphasis on the word 'came' made Ianto shiver, and suddenly put images in his head of Pablo lying in bed underneath him and shuddering, screaming with pleasure. Ianto's eyes wanted to roll into the back of his head, but they didn't. He was too nervous.

"How did you know I'd be ready?" He asked, after a long pause.

Pablo smiled wisely. "I just knew." His smile stayed on his face as he said: "You might need to cool down a bit. You've completely flushed out."

He did as he was told. He asked Pablo, politely, to wait for a few minutes and went straight to the bathroom mirror. Sure enough, he had gone completely red, and, as he looked down, he prayed to God that Pablo hadn't seen the bulge in the front of his trousers.

After a few minutes of cooling down, getting his things together and talking himself out of getting aroused the next time he saw Pablo, he walked back to the door and walked out of the flat with the angel by his side. He was tempted to reach out for his hand, it felt so right. But he held back. He didn't want to show Pablo how he felt, just in case he didn't already know anyway.

They got out of the flat and Pablo took out his car keys and pressed the unlock button. There was a loud, mechanical 'bloop bloop' and a flashing of lights somewhere, and Ianto looked ahead of him to see the most flashy car he had ever seen in his life. It was a huge, low-lying sports car, silver in colour, with a spoiler. Ianto's jaw dropped and they both stopped walking, Pablo looking at him in amusement.

"Take it you're pretty impressed?"

"…Yeah! Whose is it?" Ianto said. It couldn't be Pablo's, he had only been on Earth the past few days; less than a week, in fact.

"Uh… mine?" He said, with an 'obviously!' kind of look.

"But you've…" Ianto began.

"Not been here long enough? I understand how you'd think that. No, I collected it yesterday, it was being kept for me by a friend."

"Being kept for you?"

"Yeah, long story, I'll explain when we get to the Grande."

Ianto was, again, impressed by the name of the restaurant that they were going to. 'The Grande'. Very nice, he thought. Another thought struck him.

"And where, may I ask, did you get that suit?"

"Bought it last night." He said, leading them to the car and opening the driver's seat door. They both got in and got comfortable as Pablo started the engine up. "Jealous?"

"Slightly. Where did you get the money? Must have cost a fortune."

"It did. More than a fortune." He said as they drove out of the car park, away from the block of expensive flats. He continued, answering the rest of Ianto's question. "The same guy who was keeping the car for me, he gave me the money. Let's just say he owes me one, and neither this suit or this car pays enough for it. He still owes me more than he can afford."

Ianto decided not to ask any more questions. He didn't want to appear too pushy on a first date to know more. If this did mean anything to Pablo, he would tell Ianto without him having to ask. Either that or Ianto forced it out of Jack. Either way, Ianto wanted to know more about him; he was completely fascinated about this man.

They had arrived at the restaurant - the Grande - and, as Pablo had promised, Jack was waiting for them at the bar. He too looked stunning, and the three of them made a lovely group of smartly-dressed, good-looking men. Pablo had insisted on them getting one of the tables in the very corner of the room, where it was romantic and secluded, with scented candles. There was only one table in that area that had more than 2 seats, and it was just perfect. They all seated themselves and Pablo boldly called over the waiter and ordered 'their finest bottle of wine', and then the night began.

It started off first as small talk, about suits and holidays and various adventures in the world of Torchwood, and for once, Ianto wasn't fed up of talking about work. Now that they had a special guest, he felt a sudden sense of pride to what he did for a living, and couldn't stop spilling everything he could to this man about the things they got up to. It must have been the secrecy of it all - the way that it was against the rules to tell anyone else about Torchwood, unless they were going to be retconned afterwards. But this man was obviously trusted, and it was quite obvious that under no circumstances would Jack allow anyone to retcon Pablo, even if it was life or death.

Even though Ianto trusted Pablo utterly, he couldn't quite understand why. He had known him for less than a week, but already he would put his life in Pablo's hands, with no complaints. There was something special about him. Whenever he spoke, he knew what he was talking about, and whenever you spoke, he always anticipated what you were going to say, before you even said it. He could already read Ianto like a book, and usually Ianto would feel uncomfortable about this, but he didn't. He loved it.

Another reason he trusted Pablo was probably because Jack did. He had been angry at Jack for months for leaving, but he always trusted Jack's decision. Somehow that happy glint in his eyes and that broad grin were something to have faith in. And the amount of times that Jack's decision had saved Ianto's life was so great that it would be mad not to rely on him completely.

After a while, the small talk began to fade as the group got comfortable with each other. Halfway through the main course, the conversation suddenly ended and there was a dreadful silence as everyone waited for a deep conversation to begin, and, of course, it was the outgoing Pablo that started it.

"I think we both know what Ianto wants now, don't we Jack?" He said, looking straight at him.

"We do?" Jack looked confused. Ianto looked more shocked than anything. His plan of fading into the background while Pablo and Jack had their bit of fun was failing quickly.

"Yeah. He wants to know more about me."

Ianto felt like slapping Pablo for being so big-headed and thinking the conversation was all about him. But he couldn't possibly hit Pablo, because he knew he was right. Ianto had been intending on asking more about Pablo from the very beginning. And, of course, Pablo saw straight through that, like he was reading Ianto's mind.

He nodded feebly. "Yeah. I do."

"Well then. I don't care what you ask me. Just fire away. Ask me anything."

Ianto took a few seconds of thought. Right, he was going to start from the beginning. "Date and place of birth?"

"4th January, 2001. Madrid, in Spain." He said, in monotone, very differently from his usual chirpy and interesting voice.

"Speak Spanish?"

"Sí. Es mi primera lengua." Pablo spoke fluently.

"He says it's his first language." Jack said in reply to Ianto's bewildered expression.

"Ah." Ianto said. He thought for a moment. "Hold on, I didn't know you spoke Spanish, Jack?"

"It's what you get if you spend 50 years with this guy."

Ianto thought some more. Asking questions wasn't getting him answers, if anything it was giving him more to ask. As he went on, this was all starting to make less and less sense.

"50 years?" He asked. "Whoa, whoa, slow down, you said you were born in 2001? That would make you 7."

"Time travel," Was all he said. "And yes, 50 years. My current age is 391 years." To Ianto's relief, Pablo had stopped speaking in monotone, but the words coming out of his mouth were like data. Desperately Ianto made an attempt at wrapping his head around all this as he asked more questions.

"Ok, the time travel bit I understand. But humans don't live long enough for you to be 391 years old." Ianto said. "Unless you're immortal, like some people," He added, gesturing to Jack and rolling his eyes.

"The life span of a human being does not, in any way, affect how long _I_ live for," He said. Now this was getting strange.

Ianto almost gasped in shock when he realised what was going on. "Oh my god, you're not human?"

"Nope." He said simply. Ianto's mind turned at the thought, and then his stomach flipped over when he realised that he had been having fantasies of getting that man into bed with him only hours earlier. Who knows what he was like underneath his boxers? Ianto felt queasy at the thought of sleeping with an alien - he'd seen enough of them in his lifetime.

There was a long, painful pause. Eventually, Ianto got out the words: "You're an alien."

"No, actually, I'm not an alien." He said, confusing Ianto even more.

He rolled his eyes. "You were pulling my leg. Very funny."

"I'm not." He said. "I'm not human, but I'm not an alien either. I'm not human because I don't have the same genetics and my ancestors lived billions and billions of light-years away from Earth, but I'm not an alien. That doesn't make me an alien."

Ianto looked even more confused. Pablo continued with his explanation. "The definition of the word 'alien', if you look it up in your Torchwood files or whatever, is a living thing that was not born or formed on Earth. But I was." He took a mouthful of potatoes and chicken. "So I'm not an alien. And that's why you lot haven't legally got to capture me, because in your rule book it says your job is to capture dangerous alien creatures. I'm dangerous, I'll give you that. But I'm in no way, shape or form, an alien."

At this point, Ianto stopped asking questions. He hardly spoke for the rest of the main course, or even through the dessert. He didn't really need to know any more, and he suddenly lost trust in Pablo. But then they ordered coffee, and conversation immediately sprung up again into little small talk and jokes about how this coffee matched up to Ianto's coffee. Within seconds of the coffee and mints arriving, they were all happily chatting together.

Ianto began to think again about Pablo. He was right, he wasn't an alien. He was friendly and gorgeous. He was just another person. Sometimes, Ianto decided, he looked far too deep into things.

They enjoyed their coffee and left, Pablo paying the total of the bill. Jack said his farewells and headed straight back to the Hub. "I'll give you a lift back to your place, Ianto." Pablo offered as they walked down the road. It was about a 5 minute walk to the car park where he was parked, and Ianto concluded that it had been a great night. It hadn't been awkward at all, and he could safely say that he felt far more comfortable with the whole situation now.

He was intent on the walk back to the car and he walked with his hands relaxed by his sides. Then, with no warning, Pablo took Ianto's hand in his. Ianto stopped walking, partly in shock and partly in wonder, and Pablo stopped too. Ianto just looked at him, and Pablo looked back, and they stared at each other for what seemed like forever. They had a moment. A little flicker of affection and trust was immediately regained between the two of them. Then they turned their gazes away and continued to walk, hand in hand, to the car.

They got in the car. Pablo started the engine, with no hesitation, and they drove off as if nothing had ever happened. Neither of them knew it, but they were both thinking the exact same thing: Jack would never need to know about that moment they had. It would be just between the two of them. But, at the same time, they both realised that it was almost certain that Jack would find out anyway, one day. But they would hang on to the secret for as long as possible - an unspoken agreement.

Pablo dropped Ianto off, saying his farewells normally, with nowhere near as much affection as before. Ianto was disappointed, but he knew that was how it had to be. Not too close, or else they would be volatile, and explode. Outside Ianto's flat was not a good place for that to happen. So they just said their farewells and went their separate ways.

He went inside, but rushed upstairs quickly, so he could get in, lean against his bedroom window and watch as Pablo drove away into the night.


	7. Fantasies

The next morning. Ianto wanted to call it 'the morning after', but there was nothing for it to follow. Nothing happened last night, unfortunately. Ianto knew that he shouldn't feel this. He knew it was wrong for him to have feelings like this for a man who had obviously had some sort of serious relationship with someone who was almost Ianto's lover. But he couldn't help the way he felt, and that would always be his excuse.

The both of them, as agreed, pretended that nothing had ever happened. They were both such good actors, Jack would never suspect a thing. It wasn't a big deal if he happened to find out anyway - they both suspected that Jack would probably do nothing about it, and just ignore them for a few days. But neither of them wanted to take the risk of him finding out, just in case he reacted badly. So they kept it as their own little secret, going about their own little businesses.

The rest of the team had already accepted Pablo as part of the team. Nobody was quite sure if they were okay about it, but they knew that they really had no choice in the matter - Jack would have their heads if they showed that they had a problem with him suddenly being a part of it all.

Ianto didn't know who objected. He wasn't sure if anyone objected to Pablo being there - they all seemed to get along with him, and he was certainly an icebreaker in the sleepy mornings. He had even started to attend board meetings. But Ianto knew one perfectly good reason for why Pablo shouldn't be part of the team, and that was that he wasn't human. Yes, they didn't have to lock him up because it wasn't what Torchwood was out to do - they didn't necessarily have to capture him, like he had said last night. But it still wasn't right for him to be a part of a top-secret human-based organisation out to protect human beings. It just didn't feel right. But he couldn't tell anyone. If Pablo wanted the others to know, then he would tell them in his own time, but Ianto had no right to tell them himself.

He did his usual routine that morning at work. Made the coffees, fed Myfanwy, gave Jack some updates. But he couldn't shake his headache. He got a grand total of 2 and a half hours of sleep last night. He was too busy thinking of Pablo. Thinking of him and then getting hard over it, before climbing into bed, burying himself under the covers and stroking himself until he reached his climax, over and over again.

He shook the images out of his head - of Pablo undressing before him and staring seductively at him through blazing eyes - a fantasy - and got back to the task at hand. Bringing the files to Jack that he had asked for. He walked into the office and casually placed them on the desk, saying a polite "Good morning" and heading to leave his office again. Jack stopped him.

"Ianto." He said. Ianto stopped in his tracks - he knew exactly where this was going.

He turned and listened from over his shoulder. "Yes, sir?"

"Did you enjoy last night's date as much as I did?"

"No, sir." He said. He turned around completely and saw an expression of shock on Jack's face.

"Why?" Jack looked incredibly puzzled.

"Because," Ianto began deliberately. "I'm pretty sure that you had a lot more fun than I did when you got home," He said, raising one eyebrow. "If you know what I mean."

Ianto tried so, so hard not to show his guilt. He knew all too well he was being more of a hypocrite than he ever had before. He was pretty sure that he had Jack convinced.

He was wrong.

Jack raised one eyebrow cheekily and the first emotion that went through Ianto's mind was 'oh shit'. Jack had him figured.

"Ianto…?"

"Yes sir?"

Jack said nothing more. He and Ianto both knew what was going on between Pablo and themselves. So, on that note of shame and embarrassment, Ianto swiftly left, knowing it had been a bad idea to ever make a comment as that. With Pablo around, he had almost forgotten that Jack could see right through him.

He would get on with the day ahead of him. There were too many secrets floating around, especially regarding Pablo and Jack's history. And then there was the 'flicker' between him and Pablo, and now Jack knew one of Ianto's secrets. He didn't want Jack to tell anyone about that, especially Pablo. He wanted to just storm back in there and make Jack swear not to tell him. But the mood Jack was in, he doubted very much that Jack would take him seriously. He would just wait. Wait and see what happened next.

And if Pablo was to find out that Ianto had indulged in fantasies about him, then it wasn't really the end of the world for Ianto.


	8. Crash!

"Left now!" Tosh shouted over the connection in the SUV. The vehicle swerved in that direction and everyone was thrown to the right, almost crushing Owen in an awkward position in the back.

It was surprising everyone that it wasn't Jack driving. This style of driving was very similar to Jack's - taking turns as if pedestrians and other solid objects in the pavements or roads didn't exist, and being completely oblivious to them. But Jack wasn't driving; instead it was Pablo. And even though at the beginning nobody was very keen on Pablo being the designated driver on this mission, now that he had started driving they all felt a lot more secure. He was driving well; exceptionally well, in fact, and so well that Ianto and Owen had briefly discussed, while taking sharp turns, that he was probably a better driver than Jack was.

Until they crashed. Took a sharp u-turn to the right, skidded left and hit several cars that were parked on that street, causing a domino-style accident and, in turn, setting off about every car alarm in the street, to much complaint from the inhabitants of the houses, who quickly ran out from their houses and began screaming for whoever was driving. The look on Pablo's face was priceless - an expression of shock and terror as the string of Welsh curses was directed at him. He instinctively dived behind the crashed SUV and allowed Jack to stop the commotion. Jack was surprisingly calm about the situation, giving the residents his promise that Torchwood would pay for all the damage (whether or not he would actually stick to his promise was unknown to any of the team), and quickly telling Gwen to retrieve all of the phone numbers necessary. Then Ianto joined Pablo behind the SUV.

"Hey! Ianto!" Pablo said, trying to sound as relaxed as possible, even though the shaking of his voice was a complete giveaway.

"You crashed us." Ianto said bluntly.

"Yeah…" He admitted. "I sort of did, didn't I?" He looked completely ashamed. If he had been in Pablo's position, he would feel the same way - however, he would probably be more concerned about the reaction he would get from Jack afterwards. Ianto doubted very much that Pablo would get the same reaction from Jack. He seemed to be Jack's complete favourite.

Jack joined them both, and broke the awkward, guilty silence. Pablo and Ianto just looked up at their Captain, looming above them in a very dominating position, both with very different expressions on their faces. Jack would describe Ianto's grin as a 'ha ha, look what he did daddy' kind of grin and the grin on Pablo's face probably said 'please don't shoot me, I'm normally a good little boy'. It suddenly amused Jack at how the faces on these two men made them both look like very small children. And he was there to look over them.

"Get up, kids." He said, taking advantage of this situation to name them precisely. "Ianto, make a call for someone - anyone - to tow this wreck away and get it repaired. Go with them, make sure they don't go anywhere they're not supposed to. Pablo, come with us, we're walking," He said. Pablo did as he was told, but seemed slightly relieved that Jack's tone of voice showed that he wasn't angry with him. "And you're carrying the bags," Jack added to Pablo, handing him two rucksacks and grinning a sort of proud, teasing grin. Pablo sighed, but took them without complaint. He knew he deserved it. He just hoped Jack wasn't going to expect him to pay for all of the damage.

"I've still got the energy source on scanner," Tosh's voice said from Jack's famous wrist device. "Are we still following it?"

"I don't know. Is it very dangerous?" He asked.

"No way of telling." She said. Jack paused in thought for a moment. Then he sighed and continued.

"Well, then, I guess we'll have to go on after it. Come on, team, let's go a-walking."

Pablo hitched the bags up, one over his back and the other slung over his shoulder and staggered on after them, struggling to keep up with all the extra weight he was carrying, while Ianto stayed back to call in the tow truck.

Later that same day, and everyone was back at the Hub. For a team that had just been chasing frantically after a bright purple monster that smelled strongly of faeces and seemed to be in favour of eating them all, the team looked surprisingly relaxed. And, in Jack's opinion, for a man who had just spent the whole of that time chasing after it with very heavy bags on his back, he looked a lot more sweaty than Jack had ever dreamt of.

Jack knew he had been acting differently around everyone else. He had been trying to act normal, but he just couldn't. Not while Pablo was here. Not because he didn't like Pablo - in fact it was quite the opposite. He loved Pablo, with all his heart, but he could never tell any of the team, nor Pablo. It hurt too much.

He was grateful to Pablo that he had kept his cool. After thinking a little about the situation, Jack should have expected Pablo to try and kill him or something the moment he saw Jack. He had broken Pablo's heart, in the same way that he had done to the rest of the team. He had a serious habit of leaving the people he cared about, and there was always a different reason. They seemed to be looking like lame excuses now, and Jack knew that to some extent, they were. There was nothing he could ever say that would justify these things.

He wasn't quite sure why Pablo hadn't spoken to him about that yet. He needed to know whether it was because Pablo was too angry or upset to even bring it up, or because Pablo forgave him. The latter was very unlikely, so Jack stuck with the conclusion that, even though it was painful tension, he would wait until Pablo was ready to talk about it. He wasn't going to spring it on him. Give him time and if he cared, he would come to Jack. If.

"Your coffee, sir."

Jack's day dreamy trail of thought was suddenly and unexpectedly interrupted. "Oh, yes. Thank you, Ianto." He thanked, hoping to god that Ianto would leave at this point. Jack needed time to think over this, and Ianto was the last person he needed to be there.

"Jack." Ianto said, sitting himself down on the opposite side of Jack's desk, without being invited. And he called him Jack. That wasn't good. "Is there something wrong?"

It wasn't so much that it wasn't good; Jack loved it when Ianto called him by his name. But whenever Ianto called him Jack it either meant something was wrong, or that something was heating up. Jack was still learning to figure out which one was which.

"Jack. Are you listening?"

"Oh.. Yes! Of course."

"So what did I just ask you?" Ianto challenged him.

"You just asked me if something was wrong." Jack said, rather matter-of-factly. "And the answer is no, there is nothing wrong."

Ianto sighed theatrically. "It might not seem like it at the moment, what with Pablo being here, but you have to remember that I know you very well, and I can tell when there's something wrong." Jack concentrated on Ianto's expression, and he definitely found it patronising. "And I can also tell when you are lying to me just to satisfy me. But I am not satisfied Jack."

Jack was slightly amused by Ianto saying this. Partly because of the tone of voice he said it in, but mainly because he had heard him say it before. Saying to Jack that he was not satisfied. But that was a slightly different - and more intimate - context.

"I'm serious Ianto," He said rather sharply. He hadn't meant it to come out so aggressive. He calmed his tone down deliberately when he continued: "There's nothing wrong."

"Well, if you're sure. It's just… well, you can tell me these things. If it's about Pablo, then…" Ianto smiled reassuringly. "You can still tell me how you feel. I won't say a word."

Jack considered for a moment. He didn't want to tell anyone how he was feeling, especially not Ianto. But he knew that he should. Ianto and he were supposed to be having a serious 'thing' at the moment, that Pablo had tried to emphasise. He came to his decision and replied.

"You're right. I can tell you. In fact, there are things I need to tell you." Jack said, sitting up in his chair. "Are you busy right now?"

A huge grin of relief and pride spread across Ianto's face. "No."

Jack gestured for Ianto to take a seat opposite him. Ianto made himself comfortable and leaned back, more than happy to listen. He was rather eager to hear Jack's speech.

"When we were out on that 'date' there were plenty of things that me and Pablo failed to mention to you. I don't know why we didn't, we should have. But you had really only just met him and I had only just been reunited, and it was kind of awkward. And I don't know whether it's ok with him for me to be telling you these things yet, but I don't care. I'm tired of keeping things from you."

"That's a change." Ianto said. Jack didn't take offence.

"You're right, it is. This time you can ask anything. I'll give you a straight answer. Anything I know the answer to is yours."

"Ok," Ianto said without a second's thought. "How far did your relationship go? You and him."

Ianto had certainly jumped in there quickly. "Very far. We were together for a long time. And it wasn't just sex either, Ianto. I…" Jack paused, but Ianto nodded, a gesture for him to continue. "I loved him."

Jack immediately noticed the look on Ianto's face. It was sort of like envy, but a little different. It was kind of like hurt. "But you don't anymore?"

"Well, no. Yes. I don't know…" Jack strained in thought. "Yes. I do love him. But I don't know whether or not he still loves me." Jack looked like he was on the verge of tears. Ianto stood and walked round the desk, crouching down to kneel next to him on the floor. At least he wasn't completely taken aback.

"What did you do?" Said Ianto with a comforting hand on Jack's knee.

Jack looked slightly shocked. "What makes you think I did anything wrong?"

"I can see the guilt in your eyes."

"Oh." Jack said nothing more.

"Well? What did you do?" Ianto repeated. He was obviously eager to know these things.

"I broke his heart." A single tear ran down Jack's cheek, and Ianto reached out to brush it away. "I made a mistake. I left him Ianto. I left him in the same way I did to all of you."

Ianto said nothing. What could he say? There was nothing to say. He wasn't angry that Jack had left them anymore, and at first he didn't think that Pablo would feel angry either. But then he thought again and he realised that it must have been different with Pablo and Jack. They had something special. Jack left and that special something was lost. And now Pablo was unwilling to try and rebuild that relationship. Ianto was pretty much a genius for his age, but he didn't need to be to know that Pablo was afraid that Jack would break his heart again.

"Did you leave him for the same person?"

"No," Jack said immediately, slightly out of breath from the tears. "I didn't know him then. I left because I got bored." Ianto's face merged into shock.

"No! That sounded so heartless. And what I did was heartless, I admit that, but I didn't realise the impact. I was a traveller at heart, an adventurer, and when we fell in love I agreed to stay put. People were… after him. He couldn't go travelling. So I agreed to stay where I was. But I couldn't do it, and so I left for a while. I intended on coming back, I swear. But when I came back he was gone. I realised what a fool I'd been." By now tears were streaming down Jack's face. "It was the biggest mistake of my life, Ianto." Jack sniffed loudly and Ianto raised himself a little to hold Jack. Jack responded and the hug transformed into a heavy, passionate embrace. Ianto had missed this kind of embrace. They hadn't had one like this since Pablo had arrived.

Suddenly everything was different. There was no confusion in Ianto's mind anymore, and none in his heart either. He knew what to think of them both now. Jack was still in shock from Pablo's arrival and buried in guilt, therefore he had not been able to act himself. He had obviously been trying, but to no avail. And Pablo had obviously been shocked at arriving, and even more shocked to find that Jack was there to greet him. And there was no doubt that Pablo had suspicions that Jack had brought Pablo there on purpose - who wouldn't suspect it? It seemed too much of a coincidence. But he was heartbroken, and to be honest Ianto didn't intend on talking to Pablo about that. He had been through the same kind of heartbreak with Jack, sure, but he hadn't had it nearly as badly. He and Jack hadn't been in love.

'Hadn't' was the choice of wording. 'Hadn't' showed that they weren't before. They weren't in love when Jack left. But since he had come back Ianto had seen a whole new side of him, and was falling for him again, but in a new way that was beginning to scare him. He had never felt this way about anything or anyone since Lisa was with him. Now that those feelings were back, he felt at home again. He was at home with Jack. But unfortunately, one of Jack's exes was visiting and it seemed like he was there to stay, plus Jack didn't seem to have any idea how Ianto felt. He decided that now wasn't exactly a good time to be telling his deep feelings to Jack. Maybe another time.

After several minutes of comforting Jack, his sobs getting gradually weaker and eventually stopping, Ianto decided that Jack needed more attention now. And Ianto knew more than anyone that the thing Jack liked most when he was down. He stood and looked Jack in the eyes for a moment.

"Feeling better, sir?"

Jack smiled up at him. "Yes. Thank you Ianto. And stop calling me sir. I have a name."

"Sorry Jack. Coffee?" He offered, knowing it would cheer Jack right up.

Jack said nothing. He just pouted pleadingly and placed his hands together as if begging. Ianto just smiled at him and made his way to the door, waving a little goodbye.

"Wait! Ianto," Jack said suddenly, as if he had just thought of a brilliant idea and he was afraid he would forget it any second. "Ianto." He said again. Ianto turned to see Jack walking over to him. He watched Jack slow his steps as he got closer. He watched Jack's hand wander to his waist, pulling him flush. But from this point on, he did no more watching. He closed his eyes and felt everything instead. He felt Jack lean in to him. He felt Jack's breath, hot and tempting, against his lips. He felt Jack's lips connect with his own, and he felt his mind losing all other thought as Jack began a long and passionate kiss that had Ianto losing his mind all over again. Jack's way of saying thanks.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Ianto and Jack both started at this sudden and familiar voice coming from the doorway that Ianto was now facing away from. The jumped back from each other to look over at Pablo, who had the biggest grin on his face. There was a moment of awkward silence until Ianto decided to speak.

"Yes, you are interrupting something. But…" Ianto said. "We don't mind." Ianto was suddenly shocked at how that came out. He had meant it in a casual manner, but his tone of voice came out as suggestive and seducing. In his mind he automatically blamed his subconscious and threw it aside, pretending to himself that he never said it in that way.

"Oh? You don't mind me watching?" Pablo said, raising one eyebrow. Ianto continued his stream of private thoughts. One of these thoughts was consideration for the situation Jack and Pablo were in. Would it be right to let Pablo in on a relationship that he and Jack had, or should he leave them both alone to get to know each other all over again? He debated to himself whether or not this was enough of a reason not to let Pablo seduce him - but he couldn't decide. He couldn't think. He didn't know exactly what Pablo thought of Jack. So he gave the decision to his other drive: lust. He had wanted Pablo for only a short time, but already his need was getting the better of him since that holding-hands session they had after the date. Pablo's continuous flirting didn't help either. So he let his deep feelings control his speech.

"No, I don't mind you watching, Pablo." He began, raising an eyebrow to mimic Pablo's gesture. "In fact, I think I'd rather enjoy if it you watched." Pablo's grin became immediately broader as he realised what was going through Ianto's head, and when Ianto turned his head to look at Jack, his face was a form of surprise, a look that said 'what's wrong with you?' but in a good way. Ianto replied with a cunning grin. That was all the motivation Jack needed to take a step forward and ready himself for what was about to come.


End file.
